European Shares Retreat As Tariff Worries Return To Haunt Investors

(RTTNews) - European stocks declined on Tuesday after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump pledged to impose tariffs on all imports from Mexico, Canada and China on his first day in office, raising fears of a renewed trade war.

French political tensions also weighed on markets after far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Monday that she could bring down France's minority government by the end of the year unless changes are made to the country's budget bill.

Lawmakers from Le Pen's National Rally party would bring a confidence motion if the bill now being debated in parliament "stays as it is," she said.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.6 percent at 505.67 after ending marginally higher on Monday.

The German DAX shed 0.6 percent, France's CAC 40 dipped 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.4 percent.

Italy's UniCredit was slightly higher following its surprise bid for fellow lender Banco BPM. Shares of the latter rose more than 1 percent.

German automakers BMW, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen were down 1-2 percent following Trump's tariff threat.

Irish Continental Group shares were down nearly 2 percent in London. The maritime transport company reported a 6 percent increase in consolidated group revenue to €521 million for the first ten months of 2024 compared to the previous year.

Energy and communications provider Telecom Plus rallied 3.4 percent after reporting an increase in half-year pre-tax profit and backing its full year outlook.

Halfords jumped nearly 15 percent. The bicycle and car products retailer has asked for more business support from the government to cope with the cost implications from the recent U.K. budget.

On a light day on the economic front, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported that U.K. shop prices dropped at a slower pace in November, signaling that shoppers are set to face rising price pressures.

The shop price index declined 0.6 percent on a yearly basis in November, slower than October's 0.8 percent decrease.

"November was the first time in 17 months that shop price inflation has been higher than the previous month, albeit remaining overall in negative territory," BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said.